Premonition Saved My Father's Life

People in story: Harry
Mokes
Location of story: Malta
Unit name: Royal Artilleries
Background to story: Army

This story was
submitted to the People’s War site by Bill Ross of the ‘Action Desk –
Sheffield’ Team on behalf of Harry Mokes.

============================================

My father had been in the Royal Artilleries in the 1930s and because he was a
Zed reservist, he was called up even though he was a mining blacksmith. He had
trained on Salisbury Plain, but he was sent to Malta and put on Anti War Craft
Guns. He was acting as a courier one time in Malta, when suddenly, he sensed
some danger and he just stood behind a big oak door, probably in Valetta. There
was a massive explosion, and where he had been standing was totally devastated.
The big oak door had saved his life. He didn’t know why he’d gone behind the
door, but if he hadn’t, he definitely would have been blown up.

Another strange experience was while in North Africa; there was a large cross
on a hill, which was used as target for sighting the guns. My father was
looking at this cross in the night, thinking of his wife, Edith Mokes (known as
Eddie), and it transpired later that Eddie had had a dream that night, of a
large cross. When they discussed this, it turned out to have occurred at
exactly the same time.